TDC, TMA clash over development authority in Tema
The Tema Development Company Limited (TDC) has clarified its disagreement with the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) over development planning and permitting authority within the Tema metropolis.
TDC has maintained that it has an independent statutory mandate to plan, lay out and develop Tema and, therefore, cannot be treated as an ordinary private developer subject to the discretion of the Assembly.
The disagreement followed the demolition of portions of an ongoing TDC development at Tema Community One, Site 3, by the TMA on August 12, 2026.
The Assembly, led by the Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE), Ms Ebi Bright, moved to the site following complaints from residents and raised concerns about the absence of the requisite development permits.
The residents had petitioned the TMA over the alleged felling of about 50 trees, demolition of existing structures, appropriation of playgrounds and green belts, and obstruction of access to residents and businesses.
Ms Bright said the Assembly’s on-site inspection confirmed some of the activities and maintained that TDC’s ownership or management of land did not exempt it from complying with planning and development laws.
She cited the Local Governance Act, 2016 (Act 936), the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925), and Article 240 of the 1992 Constitution, insisting that physical development within the metropolis required the requisite approval from the TMA.
Ms Bright also clarified that the Site 3 project had no directive or backing from President John Dramani Mahama and urged TDC to engage the Assembly and residents to resolve the dispute in accordance with the law.
In a statement dated August 14, 2026, clarifying its statutory mandate, TDC said its development responsibilities dated back to 1952, when the Tema Development Corporation was established under the Tema Development Corporation Ordinance, 1952.
The company said approximately 63 square miles of land, now known as the Tema Acquisition Area, were compulsorily acquired by the government from the traditional authorities of Tema, Nungua and Kpone and placed under its management through a 125-year lease.
According to TDC, its mandate to develop Tema therefore predated the establishment of the local government authority that eventually became the TMA by more than two decades.
TDC said the Tema Development Corporation (Amendment) Instrument, 1989 (L.I. 1468), did not transfer its fundamental development mandate to the TMA, but rather transferred certain municipal functions to the then Tema District Assembly, while TDC retained responsibility for planning, laying out and developing the Tema Area.
The company said it also retained responsibilities relating to housing schemes and the development of industrial and commercial sites, while acknowledging that its mandate and that of the Assembly overlapped in some areas.
It said such overlaps had historically been managed through collaboration, including the establishment of a Joint Technical Evaluation Committee to process development permit applications and address potential institutional conflicts.
TDC further argued that its conversion into a limited liability company in 2017 expanded rather than diminished its responsibilities, giving it powers relating to land acquisition, real estate development, and the planning, development and construction of towns and cities.
On the issue of development permits, TDC said there had been a longstanding institutional convention under which it undertook development projects without obtaining or paying for conventional development permits from the assemblies.
It said the assemblies similarly did not pay TDC for lands allocated to them for municipal purposes or pay ground rent on such properties.
TDC maintained that the Community One, Site Three infilling housing project should be considered within its broader mandate to redevelop Tema and provide housing and infrastructure.
FROM KEN AFEDZI, TEMA
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